Meth sting nabs 32 suspects

DEA, Sheriff’s Office partner for investigation

St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar speaks at a press conference at the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Pictured from left are Jacksonville Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Cam Strahm, Sheriff Shoar and St. Johns County Fire Rescue Operations Chief Kurt Kanauth.

Correction: One of the people listed as a suspect in the Operation Ancient City Brewers was not among those arrested. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Ashley A. Kelly was not arrested and is not a suspect. The agency erred in reporting her involvement in the case. The Record has removed her photo from the gallery of suspects in the case.

Authorities arrested 32 people this week after an 18-month-long methamphetamine investigation that is connected to more than 200 people.

“This is really our first ... move to be very proactive when it comes to methamphetamine,” said Sheriff David Shoar during a press conference at the Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday afternoon. Officials spoke about the investigation, called Operation Ancient City Brewers, and the “scourge” of meth use.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office partnered in the investigation, which began in 2011 and culminated Tuesday and Wednesday in the arrests of 32 people on meth-related charges, such as conspiracy to produce methamphetamine and/or conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Eleven other people are wanted.

Methamphetamine use is widespread in St. Johns County and is extremely dangerous and reaches across socioeconomic lines, Shoar said.

“This doesn’t affect just poor people or middle income people or white people or black people,” he said. “This is something that’s affecting the whole community.”

DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Cam Strahm, of the Jacksonville office, spoke at the conference.

“Those arrested over the last two days were involved in obtaining chemicals, manufacturing methamphetamine and distributing methamphetamine,” Strahm said, “which has far reaching negative affects on the community beyond the crime itself to include crimes of violence, crimes of theft, environmental contamination and crimes involving our most precious and innocent resource, the children, who are commonly exposed to hazardous chemicals through the associated manufacturing cycle.”

As for the 11 people who are wanted, Shoar said, “We’re looking for them as we speak.”

Shoar said authorities have identified more than 200 other people related to the case who officials declined to name because the investigation is ongoing.

The meth activity discovered by the investigation is not just possession and sales, but includes people buying chemicals used to make meth and people manufacturing meth.

Fifteen people were arrested in the operation prior to Tuesday’s sweep, and more could be arrested in the future, Shoar said. Authorities are looking at the 200 people, and the investigation could be going on for a long time in terms of arrests.

Some of the suspects were identified through pharmaceutical logs, which showed large amounts of pseudoephedrine (a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine) being purchased.

Other agencies assisted in identifying potential meth labs at three St. Johns County locations: the 5000 block of Avenue B, 1400 block of San Juline Circle and 2599 A1A South.

On Tuesday, officials split into eight teams to deliver the more than 40 arrest warrants generated from the investigation. Clay County Fire Rescue assisted St. Johns County Fire Rescue in decontaminating the people who were arrested.

No one was injured in the investigation, and no active labs were found on the properties.

Some deputies have been severely injured by meth labs within the past few years, Shoar said.

Meth production has been noticeably increasing since 2009, officials said, and from 2011 to present more than 60 meth labs have been dismantled.

Meth labs have been found in hotel rooms and homes, backpacks and cars, and most of them are small one pot labs that produce enough meth from one cook for personal use, according to a previous story. Law enforcement agencies across the state reported 930 meth labs in 2012.

Chemicals created by meth cooks are dangerous and can linger in residences for years if they are not cleaned properly. That can put new residents at risk, Shoar said.

Fighting meth use in the county will take more than arrests, Shoar said, it will take treatment and prevention as well. A detox center, which the Florida legislature recently agreed to fund, will help once it is opened in the county.

“Methamphetamine, as all of you know, has become a scourge in our community,” Shoar said earlier in the conference.

During the operation, detectives coordinated with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, St. Augustine Police Department, St. Augustine Beach Police Department and St. Johns County Fire Rescue, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the 7th District State Attorney’s Office.

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For a map of meth labs found in St. Johns County since 2011, go to staugustine.com

For video from the conference and pictures of the suspects, go to staugustine.com

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Let's hope The Record publishes the pictures of the deadbeats they arrest. If they can publish the names of the unfortunates who had to go through a divorce, they can publish these names, get like they did for the big pill bust of July 2012.

When you look at the chemicals used to make it, the idiots higher than kite that make it. Why would anyone try it --even if they paid me a 100K --would not even try it ? Poison (made worse by meth heads).
Chewing a bullet would make more sense!!

Wow! 32 criminals off the streets of St. Augustine all in one operation! Congratulations on a job well done, and appreciated by the law-abiding citizens of our city. Thank you for all of the work and time it no doubt took to pull off this arrest!